Delight for Willow Grove

There was delight for residents in Willow Grove on the Carrick Road this week when Louth County Council announced that it’s taking charge of the roads in the estate.
The estate is littered with potholes and the condition of the roads have been worsening each year. Unfortunately for the residents the estate was not in council ownership which meant that nothing could be done to fix the problem as it is technically was a private estate.
Residents have fought for years to try and speed up the process of the council taking ownership of the estate so that they could begin repair work and after many arguments and resident’s protests that process can now finally begin.
The uncertainty as to when the roads would be fixed was the main issue residents had so it was understandable that they were delighted with the news that the local authority had agreed to take in charge the roads in the estate.
Speaking after the announcement, Willow Grove resident Darren Murphy stated that the whole community were very pleased.
“Obviously we are all very happy with the news and we can now begin to try and re-establish a community feel in the estate. It has been a nightmare down here with the state of the roads which were a safety risk to not only the residents but also the likes of postmen and delivery services. There was actually a local taxi firm who had stopped driving into the estate because of the state of the roads,” explained Darren.
“The residents association down here have done great work to ensure this issue was continuously highlighted and we also want to thank the councillors who raised the issue at meetings over the past number of years. We don’t know exactly when work will begin but we are hopeful it will be in 2019 and we can get the estate back into some sort of order. I’d also like to pay tribute to the likes of Roddy Minogue and Con Nolan who started the fight a few years ago,” added Darren.
Louth County Councillor Maria Doyle who has been supporting the Willow Grove residents by continuously raising the issue at council meetings welcomed the news calling it a significant step in ensuring that the roads will be repaired.
“This is good news for all the residents concerned. It’s been about four years since a vote was taken to ask for the estate to be taking in charge by Louth County Council so it’s been a long time coming but we have now made progress thanks to pressure from the likes of myself and the residents association in Willow Grove.
“Submissions or objections can be sent into Louth County Council up to the 17th January but this is a significant step forward in ensuring that the roads will be repaired in Willow Grove. I am hopeful that this work will be included in the programme for roads in 2019 and that we are in a position to begin work next year,” added Cllr Doyle.